Protecting the Batbrothers

Chapter seven

This is my longest chapter yet...

In Dick's words, Jason was so not feeling the aster right now. He hated being chained up. Chained to a chair, chained to the ceiling (really painful btw), or like right now, chained to a wall, his back resting against the cold metal, legs pulled to his chest in an attempt to savor much-needed warmth. He sighed. He had already tried getting out of the chains, but every attempt had failed and left him with sore skin.

One day had passed since he and Dick had been kidnapped and the Joker apparently thought asking Scarecrow to join him seemed like a good idea. Jason's stomach grumbled, reminding him of the lack of food, but his hunger and thirst were nothing compared to his worry for Dick. Sure, Dick was older, but Jason would always see him as his younger brother. It was Dick's childish nature that made him so adorable, and Jason, with his 15 years, was only one year younger than Dick anyway.

Despite all attempts of murder, Jason admired him, had always admired him. The first time he had seen Dick Grayson was when his father had stolen two tickets for the circus and they had seen Dick perform with his parents that night. Jason had envied him, he'd appeared so... free. And then Bruce had taken him in and and the Golden Boy had become his brother (kinda) and when he figured out Dick was Robin, Jason was in seventh heaven. To top it all, he had gotten his own hero persona, Red Hood and had fought besides Batman and Robin... until he didn't, until he'd died.

He clenched his fists as he remembered the previous day's events.

The Joker cackled and dread pooled in Jason's stomach as Dick paled rapidly, all color draining from his face. "Do you know what I'm talking about, Boy Wonder?"

Jason gasped, heart skipping more than just one beat, and he stared at Dick disbeliebingly. No, no way in hell was this happening. This couldn't be happening! Being kidnapped for being the sons of billionaire Bruce Wayne was one thing, but being kidnapped by the Joker as Batman's partners was a completely different story. Everybody knew how obsessed the maniac was with Batman.

Joker's gaze shifted to Jason and he stiffed despite himself. Fuck it, why couldn't he get a grip on his damn fear? "And if I had to guess, I'd say you are Red Hood, ain't that right?" Jason stared at him, waiting for the clown to do something.

The Joker chuckled darkly, seemingly thinking this whole situation was absolutely comical. "My, my, how you have grown. I didn't expect to see you again anytime soon. Or at all, to be honest." Suddenly, he leaned forward faster than Jason's eyes could follow and he stared directly into the crazy eyes of his tormentor.

"Why aren't you dead?" demanded the Joker to know, his tone so dark and dangerous that Jason had to swallow hard and blink away sudden wetness in his eyes. He felt like he did back then, scared and dangerously reckless. He spit in Joker's face. "None of your goddamn business." And he knew, he knew Joker tolerated defiance to a certain point, he knew that by heart, and he also knew he had crossed that line. And he realised his fear had turned to hatred and that he just didn't care. He had cared for his well-being enough, he wanted the Joker dead and if he had to die to get it done, so be it.

Joker's usually grinning mouth twisted and he backhanded Jason, hard, and he felt his lip split, a short but sharp pain erupting in his skull. His head was jerked to the side and Jason felt dizzy. He spit out blood lazily and blinked, trying to clear his head. Fuck, that hurt.